A client of mine recently asked if the image used below would be a cheesy attempt to gain engagement in social media. The short answer is no. My full response broke down why this could be a huge engagement driver if done right and explains three things to consider when using this strategy.

Dude Perfect is a brand that has dominated a niche and captivated millions of people. Pure entertainment that utilizes today’s tools to distribute its content. It makes for a great case study — not only to see how Dude Perfect built a successful business model, but to see how brands are sponsoring Dude Perfect and investing in new models of content marketing advertising.

So how does Dude Perfect do this so well, and how did they get started? In the video below, I break down my observations that you can apply to your content marketing strategy.

Conceiving a business idea — or more accurately stated — recognizing an opportunity, is a fundamental stage to any new business. It’s the vision someone aspires to bring to reality. It’s what provides excitement and enough courage to take incredible risk. It’s the beginning of a journey that could lead to wealth, and will lead to inevitable hardships. Creating valuable ideas is a skill that needs to be sharpened with practice, and more importantly, action. Learn to love this skill, because it’s a daily task for any CEO or entrepreneur.

Being able to produce good content is difficult, yet essential to any branding strategy. I’ve learned a lot over the years after having my own publication with writers all over the country, and as branding manager for a big corporation that didn’t know what a blog really was prior to me being hired. These are 5 essential tips for prodcing and managing content I learned the hard way. Continue reading…

As the release of PenPath‘s private beta approaches, all the options on how to fund the company prior to revenue cross my mind. One of tactics I’m considering is crowdfunding. So as usual, I research the topic and see what experts have to say before continuing down that path. Continue reading…

Last week I decided to reach out to some big investors and tell them about my startup, PenPath. My goal was to simply just be on their radar and hopefully get some feedback. One of the emails I sent was to Mark Cuban — a very famous entrepreneur I really look up to. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any mutual contacts or context to put me in touch, but decided to reach out anyways. Getting a reply the next morning with the name “Mark Cuban” in my inbox was surreal. I had quite a few people ask what he said and others wonder how I got him to even reply after I wrote a Facebook status about it, so I decided to write this and share some tips I used while drafting the email I sent him.

Today I was researching for my current startup and came across a great tutorial on a program that I’m considering using. While looking into it I though, “Wow, why don’t I just reach out to the guy doing the tutorial and see what happens.”

I then began to break this situation down a little further with a little more of a mathematical outlook. My investment in researching the person online and making a compelling email would cost 15-20 minutes of my time and has the potential payout to land me a great mentor or even partner. More realistically, I will probably end up with his feedback/advise on my business, and a new contact — bu that’s still a great outcome! This led me to an even larger realization I relate back to video games.

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Alex Cruz

Welcome to my blog! We are living through some of the most revolutionizing times in history as technology disrupts everything in its path and paves the way for new more efficient ways to take it's place. As a founder of a software startup (PenPath.com) and consultant for companies both big and small, I share my best nuggets of information with you though my blog. I hope it helps you out. For more about me, check out the about page.
-Alex